INTERESTING DIETING FACTS CONCERNING WOMEN

• 80% of all American women are on diets and Americans spend $300 million per year on diet products.
   
• American standards for ideal weight have become thinner and thinner over the past twenty years.  During the same time period, the weight of the average adult has increased by five pounds due to improved nutrition.
   
• The average American woman wears a size 12 to 14 clothing.
   
• Playboy centerfolds and Miss America Pageant contestants have become thinner over the past twenty years.
   
• There has been a significant increase in the number of diet articles appearing in popular women's magazines during the past twenty years.  If any diet worked, there wouldn't be so many around to follow.
   
• Women need a fat level of approximately 22% of their body weight in order to menstruate normally.
   
• Most diets fail in the long run, causing dieters to repeatedly lose and regain weight after returning to their pre-diet weight.  There is some evidence that this yo-yo pattern of weight loss and gain is more hazardous to health than remaining moderately overweight.
   
• There are many health risks associated with extreme obesity, but it is not a major health hazard to be a few pounds overweight.  A little bit of extra weight can help a person fight off diseases that leave others dangerously emaciated.
   
• Our bodies may be biologically preprogrammed to weigh a certain amount. Each of  us may have a predetermined weight "set point" that our systems automatically attempt to maintain.  Most animals maintain their body weight within a narrow range, suggesting a naturally "built-in" system of weight regulation.
   
• People subjected to semi-starvation diets become preoccupied with food, often experiencing dreams involving eating.
   
• Excessive dieting can lead to irritability, depression, withdrawal and sexual disinterest.
   
•  Bingeing is the body's natural response to excessive dieting.  The more you diet,     the  more you feel the need to eat.  The best defense against binge eating is to eat  regularly and in moderation.

Courtesy of the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia.

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